After a night of camping at the state park with our hiking friends, I emerged from the camper to find that most of the hikers were awake and starting their day. I don’t know how she does it, but Joe Cool looks cute, even in the morning! So often, I hear the women hikers say they just don’t feel pretty on the trail without their hair done, make up on, etc. If you ask me, I think they look great! It’s also funny to me that I seldom hear a male hiker say that he doesn’t feel like he looks good. As women, I think we can learn a thing or two here. Papa Chip often tells me how pretty I look on days when I do the least amount of primping. (Mind you, he still appreciates that I shower regularly.) By the way … LOOK AT THAT YUMMY WATERMELON! Uke asked if I had a knife in the camper and when I passed it to him, he said (in Crocodile Dundee style), “Now, that’s a KNIFE!”. Yes … Chipmunk and I are two women travelling alone. I carry a large kitchen knife. Uke cut up the melon and we all had a sweet start to our day.

Uke realized that it was a friend’s birthday so he called her and the hikers all joined in singing Happy Birthday. Then, Chipmunk and the other hikers began prepping for the hot day of hiking ahead. I pulled the camper together, securing all the things that would take flight and I disconnected the electric. I left Chipmunk at the campsite and drove the short distance to the dump station to do the dirty little deed and to re-fill the water supply on the camper. Unfortunately, the park’s water feed had an old-fashioned handle that wouldn’t work unless you held it up. Seeing as I left Chipmunk at the campsite, I was on my own. Soooo, I stuck the water hose into the water feed receiver on the camper (about 15 feet away), pulled the handle up until the water flowed into the camper. With the handle held up, the pressure increased to the point where the camper end of the hose popped out. So, then I had to push the water feed handle down, insert the hose back into the camper feed, pull the handle back up, … kind of like the shampoo bottle: “lather, rinse, repeat”. I did about 10 rounds of this before I got the water tank full (enough).

When I returned to our site, “Story Time” asked to sign the camper. Somehow he managed to eat a slice of watermelon, smoke a cigarette and sign the camper all at one time. Wow! These A.T. hikers are definitely learning to multi-task! Chipmunk wrapped up the last of her morning tasks and when she was ready to go, a few other hikers piled in the truck and we all drove back to the trailhead.

I dropped Chipmunk at the trailhead later than she usually hikes out; it was 9AM. It was already 85 degrees out and sweat beaded up on her nose and upper lip. I hugged and kissed her good bye and then watched her disappear into the woods. I pointed the truck in the direction of the neighboring town to post the blog.

I was so thrilled to find a truly shady parking space at the library so that Chocolate Chip would stay cool in the camper while I posted the blog. As I walked into the library, the A/C greeted me and I had to pause and just enjoy it. Then, I felt guilty, knowing that all the hikers were out hiking in the scorching sun and staggering 95+ degree weather. I actually wondered if there was a way to bottle this a/c and bring it to the trailhead with me.

With the blog posted, and my other online work done, I entered our midday meet up point into Evil Vengeful Rosie the GPS and headed towards the trailhead. I had received a few text messages from Chipmunk and could see that she was hiking slower by the time and location stamps. No doubt, the heat was the culprit. She also sent me a pic of “Big Red” with a note saying, her pack was checking out the A.T. Guide and maps. She said her pack found the perfect spot to rest. She cracks me up. I imagine that she, too, enjoyed a bit of rest on these perfectly placed rocks.

I arrived at the trailhead and was pleased to find a level, shady parking lot. Chocolate Chip took a quick walk outside and then returned to the camper. She, too, was not pleased with the heat and humidity. We both piled into the campground, and I plugged in the 12 volt fan and relaxed reading until about 5 pm, when we heard Chipmunk call out from the trailhead. We jumped out to greet her and were immediately struck by how much hotter it was outside than in the camper. Chipmunk was drenched in sweat. She sat down and declared, “I can’t hike any further today.” I thought that she made a good decision. I truly don’t know how these hikers are doing this. Even though I keep cold drinks in the cooler, it provides only a brief reprieve from their daylong treks with what must feel like a giant blow dryer in their faces. Chipmunk asked if we could go somewhere with a/c for a while and I was glad to accommodate. I drove her to a McDonald’s and we both sucked up the a/c and free wifi over burgers and fries. After we called friends and family, we drove back to the trailhead as the sun was setting. When we walked from the cab to the truck camper, we realized that it was still quite warm. We opened the camper door and climbed in and we both reached for the fan plug at the same time. Without the fan, we’d have really been roasting. We read in our bunks and fell asleep by 9.

If you enjoy reading the story of our adventure, and you’d like to send some “Trail Magic” to Chipmunk, click on the “Donate” button at the upper right corner of today’s blog post. Chipmunk maintains a twitter account: @openlymtngoat where a common hashtag is #GoChipmunk . She (or we) will try to answer any questions you may have about her hike and this family adventure.

Thanks again for all your support,Mama Chip, Papa Chip, Chipmunk and her dog, Chocolate Chip(Tammy, Jay, Neva and Coco)